


Soulmate Crisis

by Ghost0Silvers



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: AU - Soulmates, Gavin and Elijah are half brothers, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, androids can have soulmates, fate can be a cruel bitch, gavin has a shity life, kind of a messed up love story, only mature because of cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 05:58:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0Silvers/pseuds/Ghost0Silvers
Summary: Soulmate marks show up on one's tenth birthday, the name of the person you're supposed to complete, that is suppose to complete you. Gavin's is a string of nonsense numbers and that pretty much ruins the rest of his life.





	Soulmate Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> This is not what I meant to type when I sat down today, but here we are! Fair warning that I do not read through my works so if there are mistakes sorry, also I fail at using contractions more often than not.

Gaining one’s soulmark was generally a celebrated event, something to highlight that turning ten was important. A child not only hit double digits in age, but learned who they would be spending the rest of their life with. The very lucky ones woke up on the morning of their tenth birthday with a name they already knew, a classmate or their friend down the street. The unlucky ones woke up with nothing at all on their skin and their parents had to come up with some reason on why for them. Most ended up with a name they did not know but would spend the rest of their lives trying to find the other half of their soul. 

It was just how it went. 

Gavin’s tenth birthday did not have anything special going for it, it was just another day of avoiding the matron and getting out the door as fast as possible. Away from the other kids, away from the eyes of adults that watched, ignore the younger ones, avoid the older ones. Another day. There were fourteen kids housed together, there was no one to remember that it was his birthday, much less that it was supposed to be an important one. 

He had a system that worked for him, he would sleep in his clothes, bookbag already packed and leaning against the cot, he woke up before anyone else and was out the door only as the others were starting to wake up. Had been told what had to be a million times that he was supposed to wait, he was supposed to take the school bus with everyone else, was supposed to be at breakfast. Gavin stuck to his system and did the walk to school even if it was long and sometimes there were adults that called at him. It worked. 

That morning he had a bruise across his face and his ribs hurt, but that was pretty normal too, just another part of his daily life, easily forgotten and another reason to avoid being noticed. He did not need another talk about his temper, they never listened to what he had to say to defend himself. In a house of unwanted kids Gavins was the cast off, abounded at the age of eight, too old to be considered cute, but too young to be taken seriously. He had not even asked what dumb reason his mom had given, not like it mattered. 

Gavin himself did not remember it was his birthday till halfway through the day, as stupid as that was, forgetting his own birthday. Was not till lunch when someone shoved him out of line, cutting words ‘can’t afford anything freak, stop pretending’, Gavin shoved back and it went from there. It was later, sitting in the main office that he dared to pull his sleeve up, so sure he had seen a flash of black that was too dark to be a bruise. It was a line of numbers printed so perfectly and exact that greeted him, and then he remembered what day it was. 

His mistake was asking that night one of the adults in the house what it meant, in thinking that maybe they could be decent for once and answer him, could pay attention to him just long enough to explain. The recoil hurt somehow, it still hurt, when Elizabeth flinched back and stared at him like he was in fact some freak. She was supposed to be the better one here, the softer one, never raised her voice, made sure that everyone got food, she was almost decent. She did not answer him at all, told him sharply to go to bed and leave her alone and that was that, he was no closer to understanding. 

Two weeks later he was shoved in better fitting clothes and picked up, hardly anyone explained it to him, his biological father had been found and was willing to take him. This ended up being a whole new nightmare to deal with and Gavin had to adjust all over again. Harder to avoid adults when there are only two, harder to stay undetected when he shared a room with a nosey brat that wanted to ask him anything and everything. 

The Kamski’s were not what Gavin had ever pictured of a normal family, they were not the glimpses that he had seen from other’s parents at school. His ‘dad’ demanded to be called David, and his wife prefered Mrs Kamski. David stayed home most days, some weird version of a stay-at-home father that spend most of his time on the computer doing something. Mrs Kamski was a lawyer that was rarely home at all. Which was fine, David barely paid him attention, uncaring that Gavin made his own sloppy meals at odd hours because he skipped family dinner. Mrs Kamski preferred that she never see him when she was home, taking to her husband and son like they were picture-perfect in those moments and ignoring that Gavin existed. 

It was Elijah that paid too much attention, that has asked him far too many questions about anything he could think of. From stories of his home life with his mother, to what it was like living in an overcrowded foster house, what was public school like, and so-on. He was nosy and annoying and somehow Gavin ended up being okay with him for one reason. Elijah had a neat little line of numbers as a soul mark. It meant he was not the only one and it gave him something to ask in turn. What did it mean? 

Elijah spewed all sorts of information, like he was twenty instead of ten with too many words that he had to break down smaller and percents and poll results, all just given form memory. Only three percent of the population was reported to have number lining as a soulmark and out of them it was only .002 that did not have a second soulmark that was a name. Somehow Elijah and Gavin were part of that lucky .002 that could not boast of a more normal soulmark with a name. Elijah thought that made him special, Gavin wished he had been one of the ten percent that had no soul mark at all. 

Life moved forward, and it was not bad, not really. It was difficult sometimes. Sometimes Mrs Kamski turned her sharp eyes to him. Judged him and found him lacking compared to her perfect son, sometimes wine would turn her tongue cutting and her nails sharp as she pulled him close to sneer at him. Sometimes David would get too wrapped up in a project and forget to grocery shop and binge off coffee for a couple days before passing out for sometimes a full day. Sometimes even David would look at the report cards sent home and look disappointed, like those couple of B’s in the row of A’s were the worst thing ever. But things were not bad. 

At fifteen he agreed to go out on a date with a girl that shared science class with him, she was pretty and was one of those that thought it was okay to date people while waiting to find her soul mate. Rachel was sharp and she took no shit from anyone, him included, she could deal with his snarled remarks and either laugh them off or spin them into something real, like she understood him. She got to meet David and Mrs Kamski both, the later only commenting that Gavin was at least dating up being as Rachel’s father was someone important in DC, Gavin never asked and never cared. 

They dated for six months before it all went to hell. Rachel finally told him about her soul mark, almost skittish but so excited to show him. Gavin felt like the world was ending the moment his eyes traced over the name on her skin, the messy scrawl that was his own name, as if he himself had written it there with a marker. He was her soul mate. She was still talking but he could not hear anything she said to him, instead had to wonder how he was so much of a fuck up that he could be someone’s soulmate but not theirs in return. How the world could be this cruel. 

She of course asked about his own, there was no hope in her eyes because she thought she knew. There was nothing in Elijah’s fancy statistics and polls about non matching soul marks. Gavin had never heard of this happening. Caught snippets of what she was saying now, that she was so happy he wanted to date instead of just assume due to their marks, that she liked how old fashion they had been in spending time getting to know each other. Gavin laughed with an edge of hestrica caught in the sound, everyone had been right all along, he was a freak. His nails scraped and brought angry red lines across his skin as he yanked his sleeve up to show her, teeth clenched and eyes hard. 

Gavin walked away with Rachel crying behind him because he had no idea what to tell her, what he could tell her. Gee sorry I fucked up your life, sorry you have my name in your skin for the rest of your life, sorry I can’t be what you want me to be, sorry your soulmate is a soulless bastard. Because that had to be it, right, he had no soulmate because he had no soul. Numbers were nothing, they meant nothing, fuck knew he had spend countless hours trying to research them. 

The next time he saw Rachel would be almost ten years later when he arrested her for Red Ice distributing and prostitution, she had enough tattoos over her arms that it was almost impossible to see his name on her skin. 

Elijah had already gone off and done his thing in life, leaving the house quiet and empty feeling, so at sixteen Gavin applied for emancipation and got the fuck out. It was not glamorous, but it saved him from the stilted conversations with both older Kamski’s on what he was going to do with his life. Retail sucked, but it paid the bills well enough, helped he lived with two roommates, a pair of soul mates that were the weirdest couple he had ever seen. Asexual soulmates existed of course, they were just the first he had ever met, they were in love but it was like they were just extensions of each other. Sometimes was creepy as fuck to ask one a question and have the other answer without even paying attention, but whatever it kept rent cheap. 

Was from an attempted robbery that Gavin basically got shoved into deciding what he wanted to do with his life. The store took his saving them several thousand dollars and offered him a chance to take a few security officer classes and transfer over to security. Security he learned was boring, too many hours walking about or standing about, but it was a step in the right direction at least, would look good on his lackluster resume. 

The text from Elijah was a surprise one day, a link to a news article and nothing more. Androids. His half brother was making androids, what a trip. There was more than that though, it caught his attention fast, of course it would, it was just a sentence in the article, a ramble about identification of the android the article was about. A line of numbers in a format that was too familiar. Gavin broke his phone throwing it and could not be bothered to give a shit, determined to ignore the whole thing and move on. 

The day he was accepted into police academy was the day he got a text from a number not saved in his phone, but he knew it because it was Elijah’s. Three years later of no contact and it was another fucking link to a news article. Gavin ignored it for two days, could not bring himself to delete it but could not click on it for the longest time either. Managed to not break his phone this time, instead he called the asshole after reading it, the call connected before he even realized he had no idea what to even say. It worked out and they just talked, not like someone with a god-complex that made an android that just passed the turing test to his likely stupider younger half-brother. They just talked, Elijah asked too many questions like he always did, and Gavin finally could say he had figured out what to do with his life. 

They ignored the whole soulmate thing, denial was a deep river and Gavin was not sure how to take it, the idea that Elijah created his soulmate in the form of a machine. The idea that clearly his own soul mate would be an android, that he was such a fuck up in life he could not connect with another human being but instead some machine. Grade A human there that he was not even good enough for another human being. Sure he knew he was an asshole, he had people call him that often enough, he stepped on toes to get what he wanted, he pushed people away before they could decide that they hated him. It was better than way, better to have people hate him first then to think they could care only to have things change later. 

Androids became a thing, a normal thing, and he hated it, hated them. They were unfeeling pieces of plastic. Toasters that could walk and talk. They had no souls, fuck when Elijah’s own little created soulmate said she had no soul on a televised interview. Yeah, he had watched that, had even sent Elijah a text afterwards, it was a bullshit text, offending and cutting, but Elijah responded that he was doing well and to fuck off. It was just how they spoke to each other. The dumbass was fine and Gavin let it go. 

Then there was Connor, the android sent by CyberLife, just there one day, an android designed to be a detective. Designed to take over his own fucking job that he had spent years on building up, had done his stint as beat cop and gone from there and then this fucking tincan walks in and is just allowed on cases. It burns. It is worse when it is found out that Anderson flipped a lid because he has the tincan’s serial number on his skin, opposite arm from the name of his ex-wife. It is worse because the piece of shit seems so alive, dotes on Anderson even, is protective and shit, like maybe it feels. Gavin hates it. Loathes it even. 

Still watches Anderson warm up to the plastic asshole, treat it like it’s a person, treats it like maybe it could be his soulmate, like there is a chance somehow. Gavin spends a night getting trashed because it is all too much, cases of androids feeling things, claiming to be alive, machines finding life in their tin shells. Somewhere around his eight drink he calls his brother, half-brother, whatever, he calls Elijah, gets Chloe instead and that is somehow worse and somehow better. He never spoke to her, it, before, but it (she) sounds so alive, so caring even, asking him if he was okay and where he was, if he thought he could make it home safely. 

Gavin the next morning cannot remember half of what he said to her, because she deserves that much for dealing with his drunk ass, but he remembers soft blue eyes and dainty hands helping him up the stairs to his apartment. Rememberd asking her how the fuck she put up with Elijah’s ego and that she simply laughed at the question like it was the best joke she had heard. 

So he tries to do better after that, simply avoids the plastic detective and Anderson both because maybe there is something there, maybe it is not just programing that has Connor trying to get Anderson to eat a healthier lunch. Gavin avoids them because it is easier than thinking about the what-ifs, and it is easier than blindly hating, so he ignores it all. 

The revolution happens and fine, okay, androids are alive now, they are people, they are fighting for rights and to be acknowledged and Gavin tries to keep up. Buried in all the headlines and interviews there are smaller articles popping up, androids with soul marks that appear when they ‘wake up’. Marks that are ingrained in their chassis, that show on their synthetic skin just the same as on a human. Androids with soulmates. Yeah he can understand that, thanks to Chloe and Connor, fine. Or maybe he does not understand but he at least lets it go, not like the world cares if it makes sense to him or not. 

He blames it on stress, on needing to know. He is thirty six fucking years old, has had his nonsense of a soul mark for twenty six years. So Gavin approached the plastic’s desk and asked for a private word, ignored the barked ‘no’ from Anderson and waited for Connor to answer him. Was almost disappointed when the android nodded and stood with a calm ‘of course Detective Reed.’ Would have been easier if he had been blown off, could say he tried and then leave it the fuck alone. Was harder than he thought it would be to get the words out, was somehow easier to just show him the neatly typed words on his skin. 

RK900 #313 248 317 - 87

The world laughed at him through Connor’s confusion, with the words given that he had no idea of an android of that designation because to the best of his knowledge there was not a RK900 line. Gavin left for the day, not able to face the pity he knew he would find in those brown eyes, not wanting to hear Anderson ask what they had talked about. He needed out, he needed air. He needed a new fucking life. 

Tried to leave it the fuck alone, wrote it off that hey he was such a fuck up that his soulmate had not even been created. Likely never would thanks to the revolution, not like CyberLife would be producing more androids. Would have been better to have nothing on his skin. Why the fuck couldn’t he have been one of those with nothing at all. Would have saved him years of troubles. Hell he would have taken Rachel’s name on his skin all those years ago, things would have been different then, everything would be different. 

Somehow things moved on, if someone Connor was nicer than he used to be then Gavin ignored it, he was good at that, ignoring things, ignored how Anderson cut back on pushing back. Because of course Connor had told him, of fucking course. Somewhere in the mix he was talking to Elijah more now, and by extension Chloe, like somehow they really were a weird fucked up family. Elijah was talking about marrying Chloe and Gavin just went with it because whatever at this point, what the fuck ever. It worked for them, it was almost sickening to watch sometimes, but Chloe was good for the asshole and Elijah was not as much of an annoying prick when she was around. So good for them, Gavin agreed to be the best man and that was that. 

Was months later that he got a call from android-jesus himself, did not even want to know how the android had his personal cell number, was pretty sure he knew the answer would be Connor. Was asked to go to CyberLife Tower, and when he demanded to know why he swore the android sighed at him before hanging up without answering. Figured that android jesus was an asshole. Gavin did not intent on going, there was no reason to go to the freaky tower that was now being run by androids. 

Still somehow four hours later when he left work he found himself heading that way anyway, curious on why he was called at all, ignored how Connor waved goodbye to him and told him to have a good night. Elijah had tried to get him to visit the tower before, years ago when he was still CEO, had tried to show off to his half-brother and Gavin had ignored him. Thought the whole thing as pretty much a testimony to the asshole’s ego, after all Elijah has designed the whole place. Now it was something else completely with androids running it, Gavin could see signs of what it used to be, cold and unwelcoming, covered by what it was turning into. A sanctuary. It grated at him and Gavin ignored the looks he got as he stomped into the main lobby, cursing about everything from the drive to the walk inside to the fact it was all so fucking white. 

Markus meet him and smiled and said some nice crap and Gavin stared unimpressed because he was not here to make friends and maybe Markus figured that out faster than most humans, good on him. Go lead off to the elevator and to another floor in silence, which was fine because Gavin was trying to not freak out. The longer he was here the more his traitorous brain tried to whisper that just maybe he knew why he was called, why else would he be asked to come here. Tried to stomp it all down because fuck that, he could not allow that little spark of hope to bloom. 

A door hissed opened and Markus motioned for him to go in, saying that he would be outside and to call if he was needed. Gavin slouched and stepped inside just enough for the door to close behind him smoothly. The room was an office of course, a nice one with a lounge built in, a curved couch and TV mounted on the wall. The only inhabitant of the room was on the couch and turned away from the muted TV to glance at the door, at Gavin, with a frown. At first Gavin thought it was a Connor clone, last thing the world needed was a second Connor walking about like a fucking puppy-dog. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Deeper tone than Connor, as if the cursing did not give away that this android was nothing like Connor, for all they did share some looks. There was that stupid bloom of hope again in his chest, trying to spark brighter and Gavin shifted in place, unwilling to take a step farther in. 

“Gavin,” Watched the android narrow his eyes and Gavin paused to lick his lips before he continued, “Gavin Reed.” The android stood and fuck he was tall, was the first thing that stood out to him even as the android rounded the couch to stand in front of him. Tall with cold grey eyes that scanned over him like he was judging silently, whatever he found, or did not find, had him nodding. 

“RK900 #313 248 317 - 87, but you knew that.” And yeah, somehow Gavin knew the moment he answered the phone how this would go, that was why he came because some part of him still wanted and longed for his soulmate, android or not. Some small proof that maybe, just maybe, the world did not hate him as much as he thought it did. The android, RK900, held out a hand, “It is nice to meet you Gavin Reed, even if you did keep me waiting.” 

On that Gavin could have laughed, fuck he could have cried even, could have snapped and raged that this piece of shit knew nothing about waiting, nothing. Instead he took the offered hand and shook it, “Yeah, it’s nice to finally meet you too.” Because that was all that really mattered right now.


End file.
